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Colonization doesn’t refer to literal colons, but it does involve assholes. It’s when a bunch of people move to a new land and regardless of who already lives there say, “This shit is ours now.” The unpigmented people were most effective at it, using this strategy to conquer a number of occupied continents. But it didn’t always go so smoothly for the invaders. One such colony just up and disappeared, and we’re not sure what happened to it.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: July 22, 1587--
Sir Walter Raleigh had a habit of stealing land that didn’t belong to him, starting with Irish-owned land in 1580. Four years later Queen Elizabeth gave him a royal patent to steal “remote, heathen and barbarous lands” in America and make them Christian, so he sent a military expedition to Roanoke Island on the outer banks of what is now North Carolina.
They arrived in 1585; it did not go well. They suffered food shortages and hostile relations with Native peoples. A year later Sir Francis Drake swung by and the Roanoke colonists were all “Get us the fuck outta here,” and they hitched a ride home. But they brought tobacco and corn and potatoes back to England and limeys were like “Fuck yeah starch and cigarettes,” and Raleigh decided to give this Roanoke colony thing another go.
It was a colonizing mission—meaning families—consisting of over 100 people arriving on July 22, 1587. But then there was this pesky thing called the Spanish Armada harassing England, so it was three years before anyone came back to check on the Roanoke colonists, only to discover they were gone.
The only clue was the word “CROATOAN” carved into a post, referencing nearby Croatoan Island. The colony had been dismantled; it was assumed they’d peacefully relocated. The relief mission was going to check out Croatoan but shit happened and they never got around to it. It was over 100 years before any European visited Croatoan, now Hatteras Island, to have a look. The colonists weren’t there, but Native peoples were.
What happened? The mystery has been referred to as “the Area 51 of colonial history.” They may have tried to sail back to England and been lost at sea. The Spaniards may have wiped them out. The native populations might have massacred them all. Or, it is possible they assimilated with local Natives. As far as they knew, England had given up on them, and their only hope for survival would be to join with those whose ancestors had already lived there for thousands of years.
Get the book ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY SH!T WENT DOWN.